OF COURSE NOT. Even so, Paramount will be pushing Downey in the Best Supporting Actor category now that the studio's moved his The Soloist from a planned release on November 21 to March 29 of next year. The delay isn't because there's anything wrong with Soloist — in which Downey stars as an L.A. Times columnist who befriends a homeless, schizophrenic violinist played by Jamie Foxx — but because the studio wants to cut its publicity costs for 2008 (they're also bumping Daniel Craig's Defiance back to December 31, for a total savings of $60 million to $70 million). But forget for a minute that Thunder is a comedy, which already pretty much disqualifies it from awards consideration — isn't Downey's blackface role as Kirk Lazarus (in which he's totally excellent) meant to mock obvious Oscar-baiting parts that the Academy always nominates (like his other role in The Soloist, presumably)? When was the last time somebody got a nod doing that?
